Without the Guru, the fire within is not quenched; and outside, the fire still burns.

Without serving the Guru, there is no devotional worship. How can anyone, by himself, know the Lord?

Slandering others, one lives in hell; within him is hazy darkness.

Wandering to the eixty-eight sacred shrines of pilgrimage, he is ruined. How can the filth of sin be washed away? ||3||

He sifts through the dust, and applies ashes to his body, but he is searching for the path of Maya's wealth.

Inwardly and outwardly, he does not know the One Lord; if someone tells him the Truth, he grows angry.

He reads the scriptures, but tells lies; such is the intellect of one who has no guru.

Without chanting the Naam, how can he find peace? Without the Name, how can he look good? ||4||

Some shave their heads, some keep their hair in matted tangles; some keep it in braids, while some keep silent, filled with egotistical pride.

Their minds waver and wander in ten directions, without loving devotion and enlightenment of the soul.

They abandon the Ambrosial Nectar, and drink the deadly poison, driven mad by Maya.

Past actions cannot be erased; without understanding the Hukam of the Lord's Command, they become beasts. ||5||

With bowl in hand, wearing his patched coat, great desires well up in his mind.

Abandoning his own wife, he is engrossed in sexual desire; his thoughts are on the wives of others.

He teaches and preaches, but does not contemplate the Shabad; he is bought and sold on the street.

With poison within, he pretends to be free of doubt; he is ruined and humiliated by the Messenger of Death. ||6||

He alone is a Sannyaasi, who serves the True Guru, and removes his self-conceit from within.

He does not ask for clothes or food; without asking, he accepts whatever he receives.

He does not speak empty words; he gathers in the wealth of tolerance, and burns away his anger with the Naam.

Blessed is such a householder, Sannyaasi and Yogi, who focuses his consciousness on the Lord's feet. ||7||

Amidst hope, the Sannyaasi remains unmoved by hope; he remains lovingly focused on the One Lord.

He drinks in the sublime essence of the Lord, and so finds peace and tranquility; in the home of his own being, he remains absorbed in the deep trance of meditation.

His mind does not waver; as Gurmukh, he understands. He restrains it from wandering out.

Following the Guru's Teachings, he searches the home of his body, and obtains the wealth of the Naam. ||8||

Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are exalted, imbued with contemplative meditation on the Naam.

The sources of creation, speech, the heavens and the underworld, all beings and creatures, are infused with Your Light.

All comforts and liberation are found in the Naam, and the vibrations of the Guru's Bani; I have enshrined the True Name within my heart.

Without the Naam, no one is saved; O Nanak, with the Truth, cross over to the other side. ||9||7||

Maaroo, First Mehl:

Through the union of mother and father, the fetus is formed. The egg and sperm join together to make the body.

Upside-down within the womb, it lovingly dwells on the Lord; God provides for it, and gives it nourishment there. ||1||

How can he cross over the terrifying world-ocean?

The Gurmukh obtains the Immaculate Naam, the Name of the Lord; the unbearable load of sins is removed. ||1||Pause||

I have forgotten Your Virtues, Lord; I am insane - what can I do now?

You are the Merciful Giver, above the heads of all. Day and night, You give gifts, and take care of all. ||2||

One is born to achieve the four great objectives of life. The spirit has taken up its home in the material world.